I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.

Submitter's Comments:
Threadcakes 2012!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be able to make a cake for another Threadless competition! I really didn’t have any time from my busy life to spare to make a cake, but I did it anyways. I am a full time student with a part time job, and I’ve been trying all summer to find time to make a cake, but I just had too much going on. The deadline was drawing closer and closer, and even though it is my finals week this week, I made the decision on Thursday evening that I was going to make a cake, and so I did. :)

I chose this design because it has been one of the designs that I’ve considered doing the past two years, but I never chose it because I figured it would not be detailed enough to win. As I said, I didn’t have as much time to work on it as I have had for my other cakes, so I figured this would be doable. It still took many, many hours because of my tendency to always want to make my cakes look exactly like the design. *headdesk* It is such a cute design, I just love the expressions.

I first made some yellow and grey fondant and printed out the design to use as a guide. I started making the yellow smileys/frownys right away. I was scared to make them, but they ended up being easier to make than I expected, and I think they actually turned out really good. I really like the smiling one. I used white fondant for the eyes, and painted their faces with black food coloring. I first tried painting with a toothpick as I have always used, but the lines were just too thick, so I went and found a script liner paintbrush which is like the thinnest paintbrush I’ve ever seen. After using it I wonder how I’ve survived all these years without it. :)

I then made the conveyor belts, which brought back memories of last year’s cake. I must remember to choose a design that does not involve conveyor belts for next year’s cake. :D
I then started making the machinery out of gumpaste. That was definitely the longest and hardest part of the cake. There are soooo many tiny little pieces, I was having to use toothpicks and tweezers a lot. The pieces were so delicate and I had some breakages Definitely the most difficult one was the machine that is pulling the face into a smile. The hooks were incredibly thin, but I think it turned out really awesome and I’m so happy with that one.
I then rolled out fondant for the top of the cake.I painted the lines and screws on the fondant and rolled some fondant super thin and cut out the shapes for the background.

For the cake, it seemed a fitting time to use some of my Dassant cake mixes that I got last year. I used a box of chocolate and a vanilla bean mix. I added vanilla extract and some white chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, and semi sweet chocolate to the chocolate batter. I swirled the batters together before baking. For the buttercream, I made my favorite Italian meringue buttercream. I leveled and iced the cake. I cut strips of fondant to cover the sides and then placed the sheet of fondant I had cut on the top, so the edges of the cake would be very sharp. I then attached all the pieces of the design that I had made to the top, and added a fondant wall around the edges to enclose the design. Everything is 100% edible, and it tasted awesome. So much chocolate!

I am just soooooo happy that I was able to make a cake for another Threadless competition. It meant getting barely any sleep the past week, but it was worth it. It was definitely my most rushed cake, but I am happy with it and so relieved I finished it on time, as I didn’t think I’d make it.
Because I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have enough time to make a cake as great as last year’s, I did not enter this competition to win but because I love making cakes. I love getting to pick an awesome design and try to recreate it. Cake decorating is my favorite thing in the world and I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity again. I am really happy with the cake and wouldn’t change a thing.